MBE Contracts Practice Test 2026 - Free Multistate Bar Exam Contracts Practice Questions and Study Guide

In the sale of goods, warranties are guarantees about quality or suitability, and they come from two different sources. Express warranties are created by what the seller actually says or describes—affirmations of fact, promises, descriptions, or a sample or model—that become part of the deal. If the seller states the goods are "brand new," "made of steel," or that a particular laptop has “a one-year battery life,” those statements can form express warranties.

Implied warranties, by contrast, arise by operation of law to protect buyers when there isn’t an explicit statement from the seller. The two main ones are that the goods are of merchantable quality (fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used) and, if the seller knows the buyer has a specific use for the goods and the buyer relies on the seller’s expertise, fitness for a particular purpose (the goods must be suitable for that particular use).

So the best description is that express warranties come from the seller’s statements or descriptions, while implied warranties come from the law, including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Common misunderstandings, like needing privity for express warranties, or that warranties must be written, or that disclaimers always destroy warranties, don’t fit how these warranties actually operate.